Materials Science of Thin Films, 2nd Edition

Chapter 6 Chemical Vapor Deposition

6.1 Introduction

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is the process of chemically reacting a volatile compound of a material to be deposited, with other gases, to produce a nonvolatile solid that deposits atomistically on a suitably placed substrate. It differs from physical vapor deposition (PVD), which relies on material transfer from condensed-phase evaporant or sputter target sources. Because CVD processes do not require vacuum or unusual levels of electric power, they were practiced commercially prior to PVD. A century ago CVD methods were used to deposit a protective tungsten coating on carbon filaments in an attempt to extend the life of incandescent lamps (Ref. 1) Today, high-temperature CVD processes ...